Answered by Prim

Questions players actually ask

Straight answers to the questions American Mah Jongg players actually ask, from the Charleston to jokers to when to fold. Answered by Prim at The Order of the Tile.

• Strategy When should I fold in American Mah Jongg? Fold is a card word, not a Mahjong one.
• House rule Why does every mahjong group play by different rules? Because there is more than one rulebook.
• Strategy Should I have a backup hand in American Mah Jongg? It depends on how long you have been playing.
• Strategy In the Charleston, should I pass for my own hand or pass defensively? Your own hand comes first, and then you do the best you can with whatever is left over.
• Strategy Which tile should I discard first? Work from the outside in.
• Rule Can I be penalized for calling a discard too slowly? No.
• Strategy When should I expose my jokers? Not while your wait is weak.
• Rule Somebody named a discard wrong. What happens? It depends on what the tile was claimed for.
• Rule Can I stop the Charleston, and do I have to say why? Yes after the first three passes, and no you do not owe anyone a reason.
• Rule What do the colors on the NMJL card mean? The colors on the NMJL card tell you how many suits a line uses, never which suit.
• Rule Does the NMJL card change every year, and what actually changes? Yes.
• Rule What do the letters on the NMJL card mean? The letters stand for the tiles that are not numbers.
• Rule Can I call a discarded Joker in American Mahjong? No.
• Rule What is a blind pass in the Charleston? A blind pass is taking one, two or three of the tiles being passed to you and sending them straight on to the next player without looking at them,...
• Strategy How do I tell what somebody is collecting? Exposures are the loud half and almost everyone reads them.
• Guidance What are the sections on the NMJL card, and what is each one for? The card groups its hands into sections, each built around one idea.
• Strategy How do I know if my hand is any good after the Charleston? Count the tiles in your rack that are not part of the hand you are building.
• Rule What do X and C mean at the end of a line on the card? X means exposed and C means concealed.
• Rule Can a Joker be used in a pair or a single? No.
• Rule What is a dead hand, and who can call it? A dead hand is a hand that can no longer legally win, most often because of a wrong tile count or an exposure that matches no line on the card.
• Rule Can I take a Joker out of someone else's exposure? Yes.
• Rule What happens when the wall runs out with no winner? Nothing is paid.
• Rule How many Jokers are in an American Mahjong set, and how many tiles in all? An American Mahjong set has 152 tiles, and eight of them are Jokers.
• Strategy How do I choose a hand when my rack is a mess? Start from what you already have rather than from the hand you like the look of.
• Rule Do I have to say the name of the tile I discard? Yes.
• Guidance What does "any like numbers" mean on the card? It means one number, the same number, used across more than one suit, and the word any means you choose which number.
• Rule What is the courtesy pass? The courtesy pass is the optional last exchange of the Charleston, between the two players sitting across from each other.
• Rule What is a pung, a kong and a quint? A pung is three identical tiles, a kong is four, and a quint is five.
• Rule Is the White Dragon really a zero? Yes.
• Strategy What is a wait, and which waits are strong? Your wait is what you are still missing and how many ways it can be filled.
• Rule How many Flowers are in the set, and are they all the same? An American Mahjong set has eight Flowers, and all eight are the same tile for every purpose on the card.
• Rule What does "opposite dragon" mean on the card? An opposite dragon is a Dragon that does not match the suit of the numbers beside it.
• Rule Who pays, and how much, when someone wins at American Mahjong? The winner collects from all three other players, starting from the value printed beside the winning line on the card.
• Guidance Should I point out another player's mistake at the table? Point out what the table needs to know, and let the rest go.
• Rule If two players call the same discard, who gets it? A call for Mahjong beats a call for an exposure, every time.
• Rule Which way does play go in American Mahjong? Play in American Mahjong moves to the right, which seen from above is counterclockwise: East, then South, then West, then North.
• Strategy What am I giving away at the Mahjong table without meaning to? More than you think, and most of it is habit rather than tiles.
• Strategy Do I need to remember who passed me what in the Charleston? Mostly, no.
• Rule What happens if you call Mahjong by mistake? If you catch a mistaken Mahjong call at once, before your hand is shown and before anyone else disturbs theirs, there is no penalty and play goes on.
• Rule Can a fifth person play American Mahjong? Four people play the hand, but a fifth can sit in as the Bettor.
• Rule Does taking a Joker break my concealed hand? No, and this is one of the most common things players get wrong.
• Rule Can I take back a tile I already discarded? No.
• Rule What happens if someone has the wrong number of tiles in the Charleston? The hands are thrown in and the deal is played again.
• Strategy How do I practice American Mahjong on my own? Stop trying to simulate a whole game and practice the opening instead.
• Rule Can I call a discard to make a pair? No, not in the middle of a hand.
• Rule Can I switch to a different hand after I have exposed? Yes, as long as everything already face up on your rack fits the new hand.
• Rule What does it mean to rack a tile in American Mahjong, and why does it matter? A tile is racked when it sits on the bottom ledge of your rack, leaning against the back, alongside the rest of your tiles.
• Rule Can I pick up or peek at the next wall tile before it is my turn? No.
• Rule Can I pass a Joker in the Charleston? No.
• Rule Can I add a tile to an exposure I already made, like turning a pung into a kong later? Only on the turn you made it, and a call has two parts that lock at two different moments.
• Rule What happens if I have Mahjong before the Charleston is over? If you are East and the deal hands you a complete line from the card, that is a Heavenly Hand: the Charleston is waived and you win at once.
• Rule Can I call a discard if all I have to go with it is Jokers? Yes.
• Rule Can a concealed hand win on someone else's discard? Yes.
• Rule What is a jokerless hand, and does it still count if I traded my Joker away? A jokerless hand is a winning hand that could have used Jokers and shows none at all when Mahjong is declared.
• Rule How do you build the wall and deal the tiles in American Mahjong? Each player builds a wall two tiles high and nineteen stacks long against the back of their own rack, four walls making all 152 tiles.
• Rule Who goes first in American Mahjong, and how is East chosen? East goes first.
• Rule What happens if I make a Joker exchange with the wrong tile? If the mistake is noticed before a discard is made, it is simply corrected, with no penalty at all.
• Rule How does scoring work at an American Mahjong tournament? At a tournament the winner scores the value printed on the card, plus 10 for a self-pick and 20 for a jokerless hand, added rather than doubled.